Palestine Design Week Debuts in Ramallah Under the Theme 'Without Permission'
From September 15 to 24, 2026, Ramallah hosted the inaugural Palestine Design Week in a beautifully restored house over a century old. Under the theme "Without Permission," the event explored the cultural significance of design. Curators, such as Izz Al-Jabari, highlighted the architecture of the house, arranging exhibits based on the unique features of each room. Ahmad Jubran, the exhibition designer, viewed the restoration as a means of preserving continuity. Doreen Toutikian, the theme curator, stressed the value of showcasing the creative process. Asma' Mozayen, in charge of the public program, sought to challenge preconceived notions about design. Notable projects included Rukn by Azim Al Ghussein and augmented reality tours by Mado Kelleyan and Sary Zananiri. Al-Jabari referenced Mahmoud Darwish, reflecting on the resilience of design.
Key facts
- Palestine Design Week's inaugural edition took place in Ramallah from September 15 to 24, 2026
- The theme was Without Permission, questioning whom design serves and whom it has refused to name
- The venue was an abandoned house more than a century old, restored for the exhibition
- Izz Al-Jabari was one of four exhibition curators; Doreen Toutikian served as theme curator and Asma' Mozayen as public programme curator
- Exhibition designer Ahmad Jubran said the building's future adaptive reuse remains under discussion
- Gaza appeared in the programme through demountable housing prototypes, testimony from destroyed cultural sites and battery-recorded stories
- Yusef Audeh's Gaza Demountable Houses drew on Jean Prouvé's designs and were raised a metre off the ground against winter flooding
- City Sarha by Mado Kelleyan and Sary Zananiri reconstructed 1920s and '30s Jerusalem from archival photographs as an augmented reality walking tour
Entities
Artists
- Mirra Lynn
- Susan Sontag
- Mahdi Sabbagh
- Ahmad Jubran
- Izz Al-Jabari
- Doreen Toutikian
- Asma' Mozayen
- Yahya Alsholy
- Mustafa Makhtoob
- Raghad Zaki Mahmoud
- Ranad Deeb
- Natalie Tannous
- Rama Quzmar
- Azim Al Ghussein
- Dina Al Khatib
- Rouba Shaath
- Yusef Audeh
- Jean Prouvé
- Jessica Azizeh
- Ursula K. Le Guin
- Akram Al Halabi
- Rawan Bazbazat
- Robert Lisek
- Mado Kelleyan
- Sary Zananiri
- Edward Said
- Isabella Hammad
- Badr Shakir al-Sayyab
- Mahmoud Darwish
- Tanya George
- Wendell Castle
- Nancy Jurs
- Alison Castle
Institutions
- Palestine Design Week
- Ambient Gaza
- Fragments Theatre
- The School Bag Project
- STIR
- Friedman Benda
- National Gallery of Victoria
- Ian Potter Centre
- Design Democracy
Locations
- Ramallah
- Palestine
- Gaza
- Sarajevo
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Golan Heights
- Jerusalem
- Jaffa Gate
- Old City of Jerusalem
- New Delhi
- India
- Mumbai
- Melbourne
- Australia
- Scottsville
- London